Preparing for Biological Warfare

Original Article

History repeats. Biological warfare has been used in the past; it will be used again. Bodies of plague victims were catapulted over the walls of besieged cities as late as the eighteenth century in Europe.

 Native Americans were killed with smallpox through gifts of infected blankets. Anthrax weapons were used in WWI. Some believe COVID-19 was engineered by the Chinese. While the casualty rate when factoring in all persons exposed and asymptomatic cases is perhaps a bit low as far as bioweapons go, the effect on the economy was huge.

12 OTC Meds To Get While You Still Can

7 Prepping Items FEMA Will Confiscate When SHTF

 Original Article

by JAMES WALTON

 

Preppers have long been concerned about amassing resources that would be taken by FEMA in an emergency. Maybe you have seen something like this in your mind’s eye, too.

A line of armored vehicles on your street with armed men going door to door with FEMA on their shirts and taking the buckets and cans of food that you had stored for just this moment.

They walk in and out of your home, container after container and leave you hollowed out to face the disaster like the unprepared.

It’s a real concern for preppers but how concerned should you be?

What is the Best Survival Cooking Stove?

More Cooking From Scratch: 12 Mistakes People Make

 Original Article

By Linda Loosli

Even if you’ve been cooking for many years now and are pretty good at it, there may be a few bad habits that you’ve been using without even realizing it, particularly when trying to cook from scratch. Maybe you’re one that’s always in a rush to get dinner on the table for your family and take a few shortcuts along the way? Those wrong decisions could make all the difference regarding your meals turning out the way you had hoped. Keep reading to discover 12 common mistakes that many cooks seem to make when cooking from scratch and to see if you’ve been guilty of any of them. What is cooking from scratch?

Full Year of Wilderness Living, Bushcraft, Fishing, Foraging, Hunting & ...

HOW TO DEER HUNT A SMALL PROPERTY

Original Article

By DYLAN TRAMP

Burnout is real. And hunting small properties requires an extra dose of consciousness to make them productive—a few reckless outings will almost certainly decrease future deer encounters. When hunting small properties, it’s generally a good idea to utilize low-pressure tactics while minimizing your human presence. Here are a few low-impact concepts for your next small-property hunts.

BATTERIES: How Many To Store And How To Organize Them?

How to Store Batteries: Tips for Storage, Handling, & More

 Original Article

Imagine a time when grocery store shelves are empty, power is spotty, or where there’s no heat for the winter. If you’re not prepared, the idea can be scary.

You’ll want to have backup power sources in place, and that means having a way to store those extra batteries safely for emergencies. Proper storage can be challenging, particularly for new preppers.

To make sure you’re storing your batteries in the safest and best way possible, read on.

How to Prepare For Whats Coming With NO MONEY

Preparedness Planning: The Business Trip

 Original Article

By Mr. Zipph

 

From time to time, my job requires that I travel for meetings with vendors or clients and to attend conferences. Some of these trips require air travel, which brings unique challenges over automobile travel. You can’t carry many common prepping items on an airplane. Also, legal restrictions and lack of reciprocity create challenges when it comes to firearms. For a decade or so, I have carried various prepping items with me on trips, but have not spent a great deal of time planning what that kit should look like. During my most recent trip, I decided to plan better and make this trip a sort of planning dry run for a scenario in which everything went sideways.

Do This While You Still Can: Building a Survival Supply Cache

Understanding Fainting in Austere Situations

Original Article

Fainting (loss of consciousness, passing out) isn’t addressed in any of my off-grid medicine references. Perhaps it’s just so common, so basic, that the physician authors of these texts don’t think about it, like many other topics that have been posted here. However, it’s something I’ve never seen or experienced, and without a little education on the topic I might not know what to do if someone around me were to pass out.

Fainting, this short-term loss of consciousness that lasts only a few seconds to a few minutes, is caused by a sudden decrease in blood flow to the brain. When the fainting episode ends, the person wakes up and returns to normal.

Storage Survival Cache

Hernias

 Original Article

BY JOSEPH ALTON MD

Inguinal hernia

In off-grid settings, the amount of physical exertion involved in activities of survival can be significant. Bending, lifting, and carrying heavy weights is part and parcel of the daily duties needed to stay alive. Our bodies have muscles and connective tissue to hold in internal organs in the face of pressure. When they fail, you can develop a hernia.

How Many Magazines Do You Need?

Fire Prevention in Your Home

 Original Article

Smoke Detectors

Smoke is responsible for three out of four fire-related deaths.

Install smoke detectors on every level of your home, outside of sleeping areas, and in bedrooms. 

Test every smoke detector once a month. Replace the batteries once a year or more often if the detector makes a chirping sound.

If you buy a new one, make sure it is approved by U.L. and the State Fire Marshal.

Why Have Barter Items for SHTF?

Recommendations To Protect And Keep Seniors Safe In Their Homes

 Original Article

by David Andrew Brown

News stories abound of criminals taking advantage of elderly citizens. According to a study done by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2021, “About 83 percent of all crime experienced by the elderly was property crime.”

Certain victims

In my hometown, seniors were recently targeted by a crew of burglars gaining entry into homes while posing as city utility workers. Once inside, they searched the house for valuables while the residents were distracted.

It is certainly an old scam, one of dozens aimed at the trusting nature of senior citizens, who are often seen as slow, frail, and less likely to put up a fight.

15 Tools for EDC Gear Junkies

8 Ways to Combat Gas Shortages

 Original Article

By Linda Loosli

It’s no secret that gas prices are on the rise, and with the possibility of gas shortages affecting the market even more, it’s more important than ever to find ways to conserve fuel. But, is gas in short supply? Below, we will discuss what’s happening and how to combat gas shortages, today.

Is There a Gas Shortage Right Now?

10 Items Every Man Should Carry Daily!

Food Storage Containers: Choosing the Ones That Best Fit Your Needs

 Original Article

By Valerie Whittle

Maybe you’re just starting to think about storing extra food or maybe a recent move has upended your storage system and you need to rethink everything.  Regardless, there are a lot of options from which to choose.

To help you find the best fit for you, I have critiqued many of the traditional and some not-so-traditional food storage containers. Almost everything on this list is available second-hand so don’t let cost deter you initially.

Also, we are in a period of inflation so hopefully, some of the costs will come down shortly. 

Assessing Your Food Storage Container Needs

The primary enemies of food storage are oxygen, light, heat, humidity, and pests, so before you make choices about food storage containers you should evaluate:

15 Items The Red Cross Wants You To Stockpile Today!

The Seedbank You Need To Build Before The Upcoming Food Shortage

 Original Article

by RACHAEL BLASBALG

It’s getting harder to find what you want at the grocery store. Inflation is driving up prices. And there is no end in sight. Starting a seedbank now will help you prepare for the upcoming food crisis.

A seedbank will ensure that you have what’s necessary on hand to feed your family when SHTF.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get started.

24 Affordable Winter Survival Items to Get Now (How to Survive a Winter ...

16 Ways To Protect Your Homestead From The Bad Guys

 Original Article

By Greg Seebregts

Life is full of surprises and not all those surprises are of the pleasant sort. Some of those surprises can lead to some rather nasty situations, and when you’re living on a homestead off the grid those situations can escalate quickly.

This makes protecting your homestead from intruders crucial.

So, how do you protect your homestead from those intruders who may try their luck? Well, that’s what we’re going to look at now.

10 BEST Canned Foods for your Prepper Pantry ~ STOCK UP NOW! ~ Food Storage

Keeping Your Guns At The Ready – Do’s And Don’ts

 Original Article

By Cody Griffin

Gun safety is an integral part of gun ownership never to be overlooked.

Unfortunately, most gun safety courses are focused on drawing and holstering your weapon, marksmanship, and trigger control.

While these are important aspects of owning and shooting a gun, they don’t teach you what its like to have to use your firearm for self-defense. What is the best way to keep your survival gun so it’s always at the ready? How do you do so without jeopardizing the safety of your family and self?

Survivorman | Wild Harvest | Season 1 | Episode 1 | Mussels & Wild Radis...

Backwoods Safety Recommendations From An EMS Paramedic

 Original Article

We’ve all heard stories of people who went on a day hike or afternoon hunting outing when disaster struck. A short hike or hunt turned into three days lost in the woods, or even worse, the person went missing for weeks and was never heard from again. Backwoods calamities happen every year in America and beyond.

One happened to me a few years ago after a hunting accident, and I almost didn’t survive. The incident taught me that a short walk in the woods can quickly turn into a nightmare if you’re unprepared for the worst. I don’t think everyone should be scared to walk in the woods or needs to bring enough food and gadgets to survive for weeks every time they head out on a jaunt, but there is a happy medium.

A close friend of ours, a helicopter EMS paramedic from Pennsylvania, is well versed in backwoods safety. Helicopters only get called in when things get really bad, so he has obviously seen his fair share of tragic situations that started as harmless outings. According to him, a few simple precautions can greatly increase the odds of getting out of the woods safely, even when disaster strikes.

Backwoods Safety Recommendations:

Wild Harvest Foraging Tips Vol 5 | Les Stroud | Wild Harvest TV series

5 Water Storage Tips Everyone Should Know

 Original Article

By  pete

Please note this article is about water storage tips.  Purification of water is a different topic, although I do touch the topic here a bit.

Tip #1 Know Your Containers

Not all containers are created equal. Whether the container you wish to store water in is something you can place in your Bug Out Bag, or bury underground at your retreat, the material that it made from is as important as the purity of the water it holds.

Plastics:

Plastics that are safe to store water in must be food grade safe, on the outside of the containers there should be a recycling symbol (triangle of arrows), which has within it a number between 1 and 7. Food grades are 1, 2, 4, and 5. (Although some bio-plastics are also food grade and marked with a 7, unless you know the container is meant for food do not trust it, as not all number 7 stamps mean they are safe for food). The best food grade containers made of plastic are marked with a number 2, as this is High-density Polyethylene (HDPE) plastic. The others are PETE (#1), LDPE(#4), and polypropylene (PP/#5).1

If you are recycling old containers be careful not to use old milk jugs, or cardboard type juice boxes. Milk proteins and Juice particulars are almost never removed completely by washing and it is best to go with a new container for long term storage.

Survivorman | Off The Grid Living | Les Stroud | Bushcraft | Survival | ...

Prepping in an Apartment

 Original Article

By Bill White

The nearly 39 million people who live in apartments here in the US face special challenges when it comes to prepping. The primary one is space, both inside their apartment and outside. But there are other challenges to consider as well. This isn’t to say that apartment dwellers shouldn’t prep, but rather that it takes looking at prepping in a slightly different way. Unfortunately, there really isn’t enough written about facing these challenges. 

One small light at the end of this tunnel is that a large percentage of those living in apartments are single. While I don’t advocate for the single life in general, prepping for one is easier than prepping for a family, especially when you have limited space to work with. It’s much easier to find two-bedroom apartments so that you can have an extra bedroom than it is to find three or four-bedroom ones. 

Survivorman | Pilot Episode | High Rez Version | Winter | Les Stroud

164 Kick-Ass Survival Tips to Keep You Alive

 Original Article

by Dan Stevens

Let’s stop beating around the bush. We all know the basics of survival: how to store food, water, and put together a bug-out bag.

What we’re all really looking for are advanced, high-quality survival tips, tricks, tactics, and secrets that can help us take our preps to the next level.

You can’t find these by doing a quick search using your favorite search engine, or by reading your favorite survival blogs.

Many of the articles out there are just re-hashes so you don’t really learn anything new. And when you finally do find something useful, you realize you spent half an hour digging for it.

Wouldn’t it be nice to read something different for a change? Real survival tips from real preppers such as myself and others, go beyond the basics such as preparing your car for a bugout, or how to store food in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers.

The prepping community has grown exponentially over the last few years and I’d be honored to help raise the bar as we gain more experienced preppers into the community.

I apologize in advance if you’ve already read, heard, or are already putting some of these tips into practice.

I’ve been reading and practicing like crazy lately, so it’s hard for me to know who first came up with some of the ideas I’m sharing, except the ones that are my own.

So, without further ado, let’s get started with this massive collection of tips (which I’ve conveniently grouped into categories)!

Digging a Japanese Spider Hole (and sleeping in it!!!)

What Are The Most Dangerous Chicken Breeds?

 Original Article

By Tom Marlowe

Out of all the various animals that you might raise as livestock or just as companions, chickens are probably the most appealing.

With so many varied breeds, a low bar to entry, and plenty of personalities, it is no wonder that chickens are extremely appealing to farmers and to backyard keepers alike.

However, some chicken breeds are known for aggression and can be dangerous to inexperienced keepers. What are the most dangerous chicken breeds?

10 Wilderness Bushcraft & Survival Tips in 10 Minutes

Avoiding, Diagnosing, and Treating Giardia Post-Collapse

 Original Article

Giardia intestinalis, also known as Giardia lamblia and Giardia duodenalis just to keep things interesting, is the most common disease-causing parasite in the world. While North America got the short end of the stick when it comes to parasite shares worldwide, Giardia didn't pass us by. There are approximately 15,000 cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control each year; undoubtedly many go unreported, as the protozoa don't cause any symptoms in some people. It is estimated that 20-40% of the world's population has giardiasis.

10 Bushcraft Saw Skills in 10 Minutes

Woodworking Without Electricity

 Original Article

This is an archive of: http://americanpreppersnetwork.com/2012/04/woodworking-without-electricity.html

 

The power is out…again. Gas is over $10/gallon…when stations actually have gas to sell and electricity to run their pumps. Combined state and federal sales taxes under the Leveraged Index Financial Emerging Liabilities Interoperable Nullification and Easement (LIFELINE) Act of 2013 are at 25%…making a $5 half gallon of milk $6.25. Unemployment numbers (uncorrected) are close to 30% and underemployed numbers account for 12% more, leaving close to 50% of Americans below the poverty line for the first time in generations as companies shut down or move out of the country for easier economic climates.

Will We Ever Be Ever Be Ready For What’s Coming?

What Do Sheep Eat? Feeding Your Sheep The Right Diet

 Original Article

By Greg Seebregts

Sheep are common and popular livestock animals for farms and homesteads. Their fleece can be used for blankets and clothing, and there are obvious culinary benefits.

They’re also entertaining to watch when they get excited. A flock of sheep will also give you a number of challenges, they have very specific dietary needs.

sheep on pasture

If they eat the wrong thing, it can cause serious problems. So, what are the dietary needs of sheep?

Making a Bushcraft Axe

Fine Art of Scavenging

 Original Article

By Bill White

No matter how much any of us stockpile, there’s a finite limit to our supplies. That means that while those supplies are intended to get us through a disaster and its aftermath, there’s a limit to how long they can do that. Before they run out, we’re either going to have to be growing our own food and producing everything we need, or we’re going to have to find it somewhere. That will be a challenge, considering that others will be scavenging for supplies long before we are.

But that doesn’t mean those people will find everything. Nor does it mean that they will look for everything we would look for. They’ll be after food and other critical supplies, but I doubt very many of them will be looking to scavenge things to build their own electric generating plant, put in a community-wide communications system, reopen the schools, or even seed for planting. Those are the types of tasks where preppers can really help their communities, being the ones to help bring some sense of normalcy back to life. 

20 Stealth Camping Tips & Skills

How to Set Up an Off-Grid Early Alert System

 Original Article

By Aden Tate

By the author of   An Arm and a Leg and The Prepper’s Guide to Post-Disaster Communications

It’s 2 AM. The riots started again around nightfall. This is Day 5. Everyone in your neighborhood has something of an everyman-for-himself mentality, and you’re too tired to stay up all night maintaining watch once more. You’re so tired, in fact, that you’re almost apathetic to what happens. You live alone, and so far, the rioters haven’t targeted your neighborhood yet, but have relegated themselves to the main streets.

You head off to bed with the hopes that tonight will be more of the same.

But what if things don’t end up being the same?

This SURVIVAL SKILL could Save Your LIFE! Make FIRE in WET WEATHER!

Here Are Some Ways to Make Your Own Power

Original Article

ByJeremiah Johnson

It’s more important now than ever before in recent American history to understand how to live off the grid. And to do this, you need to understand how to make your own power. I’ve lived off the grid for years now, and have had the opportunity to learn what it takes to generate electricity for a house. Today, I’m going to show you exactly how I do it.

A brief caveat

Before you guys and gals try and duplicate what I do here in Montana, some words of advice and caution are needed. Know the laws of your area. In Montana, you’re able to not be bothered by others, as long as you don’t live in some municipal area where they impose their rules and codes on you.

In other states, it’s different. You may have to go through endless permits, licensed contractors, and armies of government inspectors.

Know that you have options.

There are numerous methods for obtaining and storing electrical power for your own use.

10 Things That Will Be Extremely Valuable After An EMP

 Original Article

by ISAAC

In 1962, the United States dropped a 1.4 megaton thermonuclear weapon which detonated about 400 km over the Pacific Ocean. Starfish Prime was one of five tests aimed at testing the effects of nuclear weapons in high altitudes.

The EMP produced by this explosion damaged several electronic devices from Oahu, a Hawaiian island situated over 1,300 km away from the test site, shutting down telephone calls in several other Hawaiian islands. It also knocked out hundreds of streetlights while setting off many burglar alarms.

Suppose we were hit by an EMP of this magnitude today. In that case, the after-effects will be even more catastrophic, seeing as we live in a more modern society with tons of electrical appliances.